BMW GS Enduro history & 1978 Laverda GS 800 prototype

Paul Marx said:
Haven't touched my SF2 since setting off to Breganze in 2019 apart from 2 oil changes. That's 8000 km.
A 530 O ring chain needs tensioning maybe twice in it's life of about 25 000 km.
I took the blinkers off, so don't have to worry about that.

I did break a throttle cable during a recent holiday to Normandy.

What would I do with a BMW?

Paul
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you could go off road and not worry as that's what the topic is I think. The fact that it was developed in Breganze and therefore ideal for mountain riding like the Dolomites🤔. As for Normandy you were lucky to fined it open.
Regards Andy 😁
 
laverdas said:
you could go off road and not worry as that's what the topic is I think. The fact that it was developed in Breganze and therefore ideal for mountain riding like the Dolomites🤔. As for Normandy you were lucky to fined it open.
Regards Andy 😁
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Well Andy, all of France is open and has been since early May. It's the UK that's closed, again.
You didn't mention that you went off road to Greece, otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned my SF2 of course.

Paul
 
Exmoor beast said:
Why didn?t Laverda stick their own 750 engine in the chassis and build their own dersert bike?
I imagine that there may have been some at BMW who weren?t interested in such a project ( who wants a giant Trail bike??) and it was outsourced as a means to give the project a head start without interference.
BMW then we?re very much a car company that built bikes and the bike side was not as profitable which was always a bone of contention. Anyway, would you like a Laverda with those awful indicator switches and square grips?
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Im not talking about some switches, but of the chaos of wiring, poor battery charging, crap ignition. I used to own a BMW 100/7 of year ?78ish and was so surprised how a motorcycle could have a real wiring diagram without any sensless cables pushed together in the frontlight. ever never fall to charge the batterie, it was like a car.... ;)
Laverda could have sort this out, and with a non-mafiosi-dealer contract it would not break the backbone of the factory...
 
you should buy an old Pan European Andy (as I did) 1100cc, water cooled, eight valve, vee four, shaft drive, easy clutch repair as its on the front (not middle like BMW) bang on reliable electrics, faster than a Jota (top speed) and in real world situations as well, due to easy 65 MPG and 300+ mile tank range (if your bum can take it) every spare part available, and when you get them out of the packet they fit! panniers and top box as part of the integral design (no fresh air on the inside face of the panniers)

down side, its a heavy old beast, but surprisingly nimble in spite of it, unfortunately marginal braking, too soft on front end (mine is modified by me) the tall screen didnt suit me ,(mine is modified)

?200 gets you a good un.

CLEM

 
The Pan was Hondas way of breaking BMWs hold on the Establishment bike market and they did a cracking job.
Honda actually produce a Police model White  with flashing lights, siren,com?s, high output alternator with POLICE graphics straight out the crate, which is something BMW missed completely.
Very underrated bike probably because it does everything well without much fuss- huge mileage ones out there too.
 
There was a serious issue with some Police Pans breaking into a violent weave.
Apparently the swing arm pivots needed to be shimmed to stop the problem.
 
Big problem with Police bikes having problems is they are worked on by car mechanics , I used to get phone calls from the Met workshop when I was service manager at Hughenden BMW. The Pan was very tyre fussy and hated some radials. The bikes also suffered from the jet wash every shift policy, bearings especially.
Ironically when I was a seventeen year old ex Merton apprentice, the Met wouldn?t employ me as I was too old, they only took school leavers!
 
Here for the German speaking blokes, a freshly pubblished article on the topic
 

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About time the Laverda effort in the G/S is recognised by the german press.  They would otherwise let you believe BMW invented the fucking the wheel in Munich... ::)

Have to get me a copy tomorrow.

piet
 
They would otherwise let you believe BMW invented the fucking the wheel in Munich...

Send 'em this too: In 2002 Slovenian archaelogists uncovered a wooden wheel some 20 kilometres southeast of Ljubljana. It was established that the wheel is between 5.100 and 5.350 years old. This makes it the oldest in the world ever found.

So it wasn't BMW afterall ;)
 
3CBRG said:
The kind of wheel I probably don't anywhere near me.
Would be good to read German.
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I can't, but presume the caption on the last photo on the right reads: And just how do we change the oil filter with that frame rail there?
 
chrisk said:
I can't, but presume the caption on the last photo on the right reads: And just how do we change the oil filter with that frame rail there?
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No, it's actually a comment on how Laverda included a small cut-out in the frame rail to allow filter removal without needing to lift the engine.  Sort of, even for a prototype, this is a well thought out motorcycle. :D

piet
 
The article on the MCN website mentions Laverda be commissioned to proto type a frame but then goes on to tell how BMW engineers had an off road project of their own at the same time And that became the GS.
Makes you wonder why they bothered getting The Italians involved in the first place ::)
 
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